By Fredrick Reyes
New Year’s resolutions have long been used to evaluate what is most important in our lives.
Have you ever wondered what kinds of resolutions Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students make on New Year’s Day and whether they are capable of fulfilling their goals beyond limiting their screen time?
It has been more than 65 days since we welcomed the new year, giving TMU students a little bit over two months to maintain, alter or completely change their resolutions. So we asked five TMU students if they followed through on their New Year’s resolutions and here’s what they had to say.
Fourth-year fashion student Anna Maude told The Eyeopener that she kept her resolution to save money immediately after the clock struck midnight—for a solid three hours. She could not endure being away from her MacBook Pro for too long and ended up spending more money on new clothes.
“It’s a little embarrassing I guess but I couldn’t keep myself from checking every high-end designer website,” she explained. “I’m a fashion icon, I need to have the latest and the greatest.”
Maude was quite hesitant to reveal her total when asked how much she spent on new clothes the same night she promised herself to stop online shopping.
“Hear me out, aside from being a student I’m also a designer so I know how difficult it is right now to make a living, especially in such a competitive industry like fashion,” she said. “So obviously I just had to support my fellow designers and buy most, if not, all of the latest designs from Fendi!”
“And if you really think about it, not keeping my New Year’s resolution was an amazing contribution to society because I’m being gracious to my fellow designers,” Maude reasoned.
Coline Truffaut, a second-year nutrition and food student, made a New Year’s resolution to cook all of her professors’ favourite meals so she could ask for as many extensions as she needed and stop using the excuse that a guinea pig ate her homework when she ignored all her deadlines.
“I just think it’s unfair that I’ve been blaming my boyfriend’s pet for eating my homework all these years,” she said. “It’s also gotten to the point where my professors are beginning to question if we’re not feeding it properly so it’s eating my assignments.”
“There’s just so many of these little fuckers and they’re absolutely everywhere”
Truffaut claims she is not a bad student but simply needs as many extensions as she can get since she is also a full-time ASMR YouTuber and is saving for a restaurant that she and her boyfriend plan to open later this year.
“My dream has always been to start my own restaurant,” Truffaut added. “So, this New Year’s resolution of mine isn’t just because I’m lazy and don’t want to do my assignments but because I’m working towards my ultimate goal.”
First-year psychology student Bingelly “Bing” Bong said he views New Year’s resolutions as a fun annual tradition rather than serious, as he simply cannot maintain one.
“Life becomes busy and sometimes you just don’t have the time to pursue the goals you set for yourself every day,” he said. “I’m a full-time student who also works full-time most evenings, so I don’t beat myself too much if I don’t have the energy to accomplish my resolutions.”
Bong told The Eye that his New Year’s resolution for this year was to find every pizzeria in Toronto that sells rhubarb on pizza and buy them all so there are none left to sell.
“I know it’s a strange one, but there’s something about rhubarb on pizza that irritates me more than pineapple pizza. That one is fine and I can respect it, a lil’ fruit with your sauce? Sure, but rhubarb on pizza? There is a pretty bold line you’ve crossed with that,” said Bong. “I’m just trying to save the people of Toronto from an extremely questionable pizza flavour…there are far better options!”
When asked how his New Year’s resolution was going, Bong said that as of our interview, he had only found one place that sold rhubarb pizza and plans to keep looking until the end of March.
Benjamin Wallace, a third-year sociology student, set a goal to match his outfits, particularly his hat, to whichever beverage he has for the entire year while on campus.
“A lil’ fruit with your sauce? Sure, but rhubarb on pizza?”
“I don’t typically make New Year’s resolutions but I figured I might as well have some fun with it and this seemed like a simple one,” he said. “I also got a lot of new hats over the winter break, so at the very least I can use them this way.”
Wallace claimed that the unique hats-to-beverage pairing is a great way for him to express his personality and mood for the day, similar to those reversible octopus plushies.
“If I’m feeling energetic and happy, I’ll wear bright red and yellow with my Gatorade; if I’m feeling down, I’ll wear something neutral, like brown to match my latte,” he said.
Wallace declined to comment on how he would dress if he were to be drinking a transparent beverage such as water or sprite.
Fourth-year biology student Ella Griffin said they have kept the same New Year’s resolution since starting at TMU. They have set out to name every single pigeon on campus by the time they graduate at the end of the year and quite honestly have been pretty successful.
“There’s just so many of these little fuckers and they’re absolutely everywhere,” they said. “It’s not like I can do anything to them so I might as well befriend every single one.”
When asked why they wanted to name every pigeon on campus, Griffin said they felt bad as the little rascals are frequently misunderstood and hated by other students for no reason.
“At first, I’ll admit that I loathed them because, come on, they’re a pain when you’re just trying to walk to class and they suddenly all flock towards you,” they said. “But after I took the time to name each one and spend time with them, I found that they’re not all that bad. They just want to hang out and make friends with the students.”
“I guess now I’ll have to invite all of them to convocation,” Griffin said. “I wonder if TMU is going to allow that. I emailed the president months ago and have yet to hear back.”
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